Never Been Stoned

In many denominations, October is missions month. Yesterday, at Grace, was Missions Sunday.

I remember being there last year. It was one of our first Sundays of church shopping and we were totally put off by all the pageantry. Dozens of people (all ages) parading down the numerous aisles wearing festive costumes and carrying large flags from various countries. I was totally put off by the ceremony. However, as the service progressed, I was totally blessed because Pastor Ghassan Thomas preached. He is the pastor at Jesus is the Light of the World Church. It's a CMA (Christian and Missionary Alliance) Church. It's in Baghdad and it's growing fast.

Pastor Thomas was unable to preach at this year's conference due to difficulties in getting a visa. He sent a video message. Pray for him and his wife and children. Being a Christian in Baghdad is not really a safe thing to be.

So, yesterday morning as I saw the festively costumed parishioners lining up with their flags, I once again thought what a waste of time, energy, and money. But then, as I looked at them all lined up around the church I was struck by the idea that God so loved the world.

So, what was this year's off putting moment? It was the Mission Possible theme take off on Mission Impossible that involved a couple guys dressed in black and wearing sun glasses (pretending to be the senior pastor and the missions pastor) rappelling down ropes high (very high) above the stage. Why is it that churches have to be so gimmickey and come up with clever videos, stunts, skits, etc. to get our attention. Like the Bible is boring and it's the job of the church leaders to make it interesting for everyone.

We got beyond the rappelling in black and came to the heart of the service--a message from a pastor in northern Iraq. He has been put in jail several times and tortured (stoned) for the gospel. As the service ended, surrounded by flags of the world, several Arab pastors, who represented all sorts of denominations stood up front in a Baptist church praising God surrounded by flags of all the nations. I was so moved, I couldn't sing, I just looked and thought to myself, "I have never been stoned for the gospel. They have been."

I have been learning many things in the past few months. One big lesson is that the Church is one. CMA pastors in Iraq are on the same team as Baptist pastors in Eden Prairie. Baptist pastors in Eden Prairie are on the same team as Presbyterian pastors in Eden Prairie. There is unity in the body of Christ.

When people are getting stoned for the gospel, denominationalism and sectarianism get set aside. Only in America are we so closed minded that we think "our thing", "our way", "our group" is the best and only one.

Pray for the Christians in Iraq today.